Giving Thanks for Improved Onboarding Practices

Nov 21, 2023

Applicant Tracking, ApplicantStack, Blog, Employee Onboarding

With Thanksgiving coming up, you may be thinking about what you’re thankful for and how those things impact your life. But as a small business owner, it’s worth considering your recruiting process and how it impacts the organization’s ability to grow and succeed. In this article, we’re outlining the benefits of improving how you bring on new hires and why those are worth giving thanks for this holiday season.

Understanding the Onboarding Process

Onboarding is a term that includes all the tasks associated with bringing a new onboard into your organization. It begins when someone accepts an offer, and you start planning for their arrival on the team. Examples of onboarding activities include new-hire orientation, training, support from a mentor, and even a tour of the office or workspace.

Orientation is an important aspect of a new hire’s first day, but it differs from onboarding. When you think about orienting someone to a new role, your mind might imagine stacks of paperwork and an introduction to the company mission and values.

But onboarding goes a step further than orientation, as its purpose is to help a new employee feel comfortable and confident in their new role. This comprehensive process can take up to a year to fully complete, and it should involve many people throughout the company.

Every new hire goes through some type of onboarding process but a more robust experience can have a significant positive impact on retention and satisfaction. Gallup data shows that only 12 percent of employees felt good about their onboarding experience.

Additionally, those in that group were three times more likely to report that they have the best possible job. Less than a third of new hires surveyed felt supported and prepared to excel in a new role. These statistics indicate plenty of room for improvement.

5 Reasons to Give Thanks for Better Onboarding

Now, let’s dive into some of the reasons to give thanks for improved onboarding.

Positive employee experience

In today’s economy, it’s more important than ever to provide a positive experience for your employees. People have more options when it comes to finding work, especially in positions and industries that require fewer skills. Make sure your new hires feel supported and excited about their future with your organization by investing in a positive onboarding process.

Improved engagement

Engagement is one of the most essential aspects of managing a workforce. Engaged employees work harder, are more productive, and contribute significantly to the success of a business. But unfortunately, only 33 percent of American employees report being engaged, and 16 percent report being actively disengaged.

A new hire’s first experience with how your organization engages with them occurs during the recruiting and hiring process. But onboarding also plays a role in the overall experience, which has a direct correlation to engagement.

Enhanced retention

Retaining top talent can be a real challenge but onboarding may be the secret sauce your company is currently not using. Nearly 70 percent of employees are more likely to stick around with an organization if they had a great onboarding experience. When you compare that stat with the overall cost of bringing on a new hire, you can see just how important onboarding is in retention efforts.

Increased productivity

A successful onboarding process can reduce the learning curve for new hires, helping them to feel more confident in their roles. As a result, they can get up and running faster, which means they’re more productive. Great onboarding can also minimize how long it takes to become proficient with different tasks and responsibilities.

Supportive company culture

Regardless of the size of your business, you should recognize the value of building a supportive and positive culture. And employees need to understand the culture and what to expect from the moment they consider working for your organization.

Providing a positive and consistent onboarding process for every new hire goes hand-in-hand with the culture you want to build and cultivate. By contrast, high turnover rates contribute to a toxic culture, making it difficult to get good people to stick around.

ApplicantStack Can Take Your Efforts to the Next Level

Are you already giving thanks for these benefits of better onboarding? Or, could your company’s process still use some work? With ApplicantStack, a powerful hiring and onboarding solution built for small business, you can maximize your efforts without overspending.

This budget-friendly platform is ideal for creating consistency and providing support to new hires being brought on board. Learn more by taking a brief video-based tour.